Thomas Tuchel threw a first pitch. We asked baseball experts if it was any good

Thomas Tuchel is an elite soccer coach and was a decent player until injury cut short his career, but is he any good at baseball?It’s not a question we expected to be considering during England’s World Cup campaign but on Thursday he tried his arm at pitching.Was he any good? Well, we asked our baseball desk for a review and this is what they said.The day after England opened their World Cup with a thumping win over Croatia, members of the team including Harry Kane, Djed Spence and Dan Burn caught a game at Kauffman Stadium, the home of Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals.Before the game, the trio accompanied Tuchel to the mound for a ceremonial first-pitch.The ceremonial first-pitch is a longstanding pre-game tradition, where a guest throws out a ball to a member of the home team. These guests range from celebrities to community leaders.In this case, it was Tuchel who delivered a looping strike to Royals manager Matt Quatraro. Tuchel waved to the crowd, stepped onto the rubber, rocked himself into a an abbreviated windup, then fired a pitch toward home plate. It caught the corner for a strike.

Getting the full US experience 😎

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 19, 2026

Harry Kane, Djed Spence, Dan Burn y el director técnico de la selección de fútbol de Inglaterra, Thomas Tuchel, realizaron el lanzamiento oficial en el Kauffman Stadium. ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/Q9aeKnSjsj